Halloween 2010
Official look this year...
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Friday, October 29, 2010
We R Who We R
"Night Mr. Luke :-)"
"They have sugar free cakE and frosting now!"
"What time is ur phone interv?"
"What was the last Twitter regarding..." & then "Wtf is going on there? Damn."
"And where did you accept a new job?" & then "Yay for me! I know it's selfish, but I'm glad you're staying."
"Congratulations!!! What job did you take?"
"I am super proud of you."
"U r funny. I am relived things r ok 4 u. Remember u dont have 2 justify 2 ANYONE why u chgd jobs or why u pkd the one u did. i am proud of u! u survived!"
"congratulations! i'm happy you're getting a new opportunity. just make sure don't harass anyone this time!"
"where u heading to??" & then "yayayayayayayayay"
"Yay! Are you psyched? no more ****!"
"U can say stop talking 2 me anytime u want!"
"Well congrats again! I'm happy for u"
"i love it when you call me big papa" (I did not, Jake)
"I'm at Lux now" & then "Im.inside.with.a.xhilled.beer"
"doc says i should be able to use it in a week"
"I want you."
"Jealous." & then "More jealous." & then "Really jealous..."
"Yay ok I'm here so whenever u are free"
"U can invite r too if u want" (No)
"That is so sad."
"She says 'olive juice' !"
"Be there at 5. Early. Sorry."
"lol im with u in spirit hhaha"
"Am all set now. Just found a BAR! Yippeee!"
"she may be high as well"
"wth do u want from me? i did nothing to u and now u r at my house!"
"NOT THE PEACOAT! OMG"
Thursday, October 28, 2010
One step at a time
"What is her name again? Lauren?" Oct 24 (re: my cat, Ashley)
"Calm down Holmes. It's no big deal." Oct 25 (for the record, it was a big deal, and none of his business)
"So where is this Halloween party you're going to on Saturday?" Oct 26 (yeah... no)
"Well, I hope it's not life threatening." Oct 27 (re: my doctor's appt I wouldn't explain)
"I thought it would be pretty ghetto, but there aren't too many black people there." Oct 27 (re: Planet Fitness)
"So clouds are just moistures in the air?" Oct 28
"Big papa's going to bed, Holmes. Papa's gotta get some sleep." Oct 28
"I know nothing of Halloween." Oct 29
"I don't get this American measurement system." Oct 30 (cups & teaspoons)
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Monday, October 25, 2010
Volleyball kiss of death
Our team is improving week by week.. eventually, we will win all three games in a night...
P.S. I'm the big lug in the yellow in the picture and video...
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Where are you?
This week's bunch of quotes seems to revolve around the idea that I don't spend ENOUGH time with him and he has NO idea where he is or where I am when we're not together.
"So you're limiting me to one activity with you a weekend?" Oct 20
"Where is downtown from here?" Oct 20
"Where do you disappear to at night?" Oct 21
(text) "Where are you? Gift bags are gone. This chick is bangin'. ETA???" Oct 21
"Wake upppppp... you can't do this at your new jobbbbbb..." Oct 22 (@7:45am)
"Why do I get the sense that you don't want to do anything with me anymore?" Oct 22
"Did you seriously just roll in?" Oct 23 (@2:30am)
"Come on Holmes... please... please... what am I going to do without you?" Oct 23
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Hedonist Artisan Chocolates
R & I hit up the Hedonist party at Lux Lounge this evening, hanging out with a ton of people, meeting up with Chrissie, and enjoying some good food, great chocolates, and some decent wine from Ravines wine cellars. I avoid all carbs, and ended up getting just a glass of vodka that I sipped throughout the evening... but it was a good time, and R ended up in 15 of the shots on their official Facebook page. Heh.
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Strike that and move ahead
I've put in my notice to my employer. I'm headed to a new job in a couple weeks. It's a fantastic opportunity, great potential for growth, is along my career path, and will help me get to where I want to be. Here's to my future.
Brother, heal thyself
Okay, I've realized I've gone a little negative with recording the quotes he's shared with me as of late. So I'll try to ignore the negativity and move on toward the funny, again. Plus, we've hardly seen each other as of late! All interactions through texts/phone/email.
(text) "Can you take out the chicken from the freezer?" Oct 15 (at 9am, while I'm @ work)
"So, I have another Facebook question for you." Oct 15
"Why do I have ($$$) in my Roth IRA!?" & "Oh. Sorry dude, that's yours." Oct 15 (re: opened my mail)
"Can you expedite my request?" Oct 16 (to Nola, re: goat meat)
"I told you this before, right? I mean, we discussed this, yes?" Oct 16
"So can you pay my property tax bill?" & then "Not WILL you, but CAN you?" Oct 17
"You are NOT watching mtv dude... are you 17 or what?" Oct 17
(email) "You can take 1/2 the banana bread to your family gathering today!" Oct 18
(email) "Is this something we can do over the telephone?" Oct 19 (re: baking bread)
"Oh good. This is good for me AND you. Now I don't have to move!" Oct 20
Monday, October 18, 2010
Family Time
Hanging out with baby Brendan and his parents, Crystal & Jered tonight. Having a ton of fun with the family, including cousin Neil!
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Different point of view
Cleaning 'em out and sharing 'em up!
"I will bring wine. What kind?"
"Move to california!"
"Vino gracias"
"ok. safe now' come in"
"But there!! And I didn't even have to get out of plans. Woohoo"
"that doesn't make me a bad friend does it???"
"gorgeous!! thats my fav pic of all the ones you've sent me"
"same. what's happened??"
"what r u goin to do today mr hiker??"
"did you make time on your schedule to pass out today?"
"thanks honeypie. r u a nyer yet?"
"T minus one hour to bokonon attack..."
"i might have had a mild heart attack. we r doing tests"
"Are you serious?? Oh my goodness... which one??"
"u in a meeting?"
"i just need a shower. might be chging @the gas station"
"thx for stopping. it was a good break in the day"
"Just landed in Vegas ;)"
"Awesome! Rainbows and unicorns!"
"I am anxious to talk w u"
"I like ur picture. It's purty."
"i miss you"
"k. be there in a bit."
Photo by Max.
Wine Tour / Apple Picking / Family Dinner
Quite the day ahead. The plan for the day was to go to Kelly's birthday gathering at the Apple Farm, before heading down to Seneca County for a day of wine tasting. Nola & I got a later start due to some left-behind items (apple pie/bag of clothes/etc.). But we got to the Apple Farm and everyone was still gathered. We headed up, had fun poking fun and chatting before deciding quite quickly that there weren't many apples left on the trees and that it was extremely cold; too cold to enjoy the day. So everyone wrapped up, bought some donuts/cider and headed to Dunkin' Donuts down the road to gather for breakfast. Nola and I were running a little behind schedule, and because R didn't want to go to the apple orchard in the morning, I had to go pick him up in Victor before getting on our way. (Too much to go into why, how and what led to this.)
But once we had him picked up and on our way, I called Molly to give her, Jen & Tammy plenty of time to meet us at our first winery: Three Brothers. Unfortunately, somehow, they did not make it right away, and R & I waited and treaded time as best we could. I didn't mind, but I was walking a fine line with the day's activities & timetables. But they arrived, with food!, and we started a full day of tasting.
- Three Brothers Wineries & Distillery
- Swedish Hill Vineyards
- Lakeshore Winery
- Sheldrake Point
- Hosmer Winery
- Knapp Winery
- Zugibe Vineyards
- Bellwether Hard Cider
We had a good time. Molly ended up being the D.D. for the day, and we all took hilarious turns fighting over shotgun, getting toasted each time, complaining about the wine selections & quality, and just being in the moment. Such a great day! So sunny, cool and fresh. I'm not going to review any of the wineries or wines we tasted... suffice to say, I didn't like any of them. They weren't good.
Wait, I lie. I've always wanted to visit Sheldrake Point. And one of their reserve wines: 2008 Barrel Reserve Cabernet Franc I enjoyed a bit. I gave it four stars for its rich, full and velvety appeal. $25.
But I still enjoyed the experience in general, surprised that I've never done a wine tour like that before in my local stomping grounds. I don't think I've ever eaten that much delicious cheese in a single day, and the girls were a complete hoot. They kept antagonizing R all day long, much to his chagrin. They bought some wine, were all smiles... we listened to loud pop music, drove around beautiful Seneca County in the fall, and just immersed ourselves in a little bit of bliss. And I knew.. if they day went well, R would actually want to do more with us. The "plan" was to have dinner with my family, but he didn't want to spend any time with them. Completely OK and up to him, so I told him I'd return him to Rochester. But by the end of the day, he actually joined us for dinner, and I think enjoyed himself.
My family/cousins are in town from Nebraska, and my family always goes out of their way to make everyone feel welcome, fed and entertained. They arrived on Friday night, to much fanfare, I'm sure, and will be here for about a week. My mother and Nola cooked all day long a litany of foods, including corn casserole, stuffed peppers (3 customized non-carby ones for me, 2 customized non-beef ones for R, and a million normal ones for everyone else), and pies! I even made an apple pie for the occasion, which by the way, turned out splendidly. We arrived (slightly late, which is my family's style, ha!), and enjoyed the next five hours laughing, napping, joking, goofing off and catching up.
My cousins are all doing very well. I'm looking forward to spending some random times with them over the next couple of days. It's good to see them and hear about their lives. The next ad hoc plan was to go out to a bar and have fun with Molly, Jen & Tammy, with R & I, but the girls were exhausted, and decided to just veg at home, drink a bottle of wine and not go out. Since R had fallen asleep on my grandmother's couch, I was completely OK with this plan! It was a long... long day of random activities, and driving home at 11PM was a relief. Had a great day, with minimal conflict, minimal arguing and a bit of smiles from all involved. All in all, a good day. And I'm leaning toward it being the LAST day that R & I will doing a "day event" together. He's difficult and it doesn't make sense to offer anymore.
Seneca/Cayuga Lake Wine Trail
After much hubub and discussion/problems in regard to a day of preparation, my sister, her two friends Tammy & Jen, R & I, went wine tasting at a half dozen wineries today. We had a great time, and a complete run-down will be commencing soon enough!
What do you want from me?
Another day. Another fight. Another discussion. He raises his voice. I leave the room; he follows. Disagreement. Maybe I'm crazy.
"I'm not going to hang out with people I don't care about." Oct 14 (re: my family)
"Of course you didn't think about it. You never think about it." Oct 14
(in IM) "Your going to do what you want regardless- and playing stupid. anyways.... this is going nowhere" Oct 15
"We fundamentally don't agree. I don't know how we get along." Oct 15
"So what is it going to take for me to get some from you tonight?" Oct 16 (re: 420)
"I think they frown upon buzzed driving. So if I get pulled over, it's your fault." Oct 16
Saturday, October 16, 2010
David Sedaris
Meliora Weekend was this weekend, and I scored a couple free tickets to go watch David Sedaris live on Friday night. I joined my coworkers Crystal & Amy, and I brought my sister Nola. He was funny! I had a great time, and I even got to meet up with Laura's parents who were also in the audience. The whole place was like a huge "who's who" of UR, as I saw a dozen people who squirmed their way in. A great time.
Friday, October 15, 2010
Wine: Evening with the Wines of Piedmont
Had a really fantastic time wine tasting the wines of Piedmont, a small region of northwestern Italy. All of these wines come from very small boutique wineries, all family owned and small lots. I liked them a lot.
2008 Camporosso Gavi $9.99
A bad white wine, this is considered an "everyday wine." Had a zippy acidity. This is made from the cortese grape. Has a light apricot taste and would be great with salami, chicken and fish. ** 1/2
2008 Silvio Grasso Dolcetto d'Alba $12.13
Stands for "little sweet one," it's a very dark purple, no oak and strikingly fruity wine. About 1,000 cases made total. Great for the beginning of a meal as it's light, a light tannin, and has the nickname 'bbq red.' **
2007 La Spinetta, Barbera d'Asti Ca de Pian' $19.99
Extreme tannins, just my style. Logo gives it the nickname "Rhino Wine" and has a bit of sediment floating around. Has a full aroma (fills the nose), velvety and woderful. 2007 was a great vintage in Piedmont. Great for roasting lamb or beef (or any tartar). Ages well due to soft tannins. *** 1/2
2008 Sottimano, Langhe Nebbiolo $17.33
Has a strong earthy, chocolate cherry candy taste to it. Can age 50-60 years, comes from a small 400 case stock, has super tannins, complex aromas and a bright, bombastic & elegant feel to it. Loved it. **** 1/2
2004 Antoniolo, Gattinara 'Castelle' $37.89
This 2004 batch was a great vintage for the town. Coming from a small 800 case batch, it has a stinky smell to it, comes from a higher elevation and even made me cough when I drank it. VERY ripe, dry, perfumy and expressive. Tasted expensive. All grapes from single vineyard. ****
2005 Moccagatta, Barberesco 'Bric Balin' $49.99
By law, this wine is required to be in oak for 12 months. Has a feminine and softer feel to it, strong tannins and requires no decanting. GREAT smell. Made me say 'Wow!' outloud. Has a flowery, cherry cola with vanilla/toasty aroma. *****
2005 Giovanni Corino Barolo $39.99
Considered a "kissing cousin" to the previous wine, this more masculine wine has balsamic herb tendancies with a sour, dry, but not tannic aftertaste. ** 1/2
2005 Giovanni Corino 'Giachini' $54.99
This barola is slightly lighter, has a higher concentration from the grapes, comes from a single vineyard and has a wonderful aroma. Can be stored 10-15 years, gives a sense of 'power' as it stings the nose and gives a full mouth experience. ****
2009 La Spinetta, Moscato d'Asti 'Bricco Qualia' $15.99
This white wine was EXTREMELY sweet, but was amazing for a celebration meritino wine. Has an ultra fresh, low alcohol taste and is pretty & nicely aromatic. *** 1/2
WINE KEY
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Kisses
This is what we consider bad touch kids.
Playing board games with the guys! Having a great time.
Playing board games with the guys! Having a great time.
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Travel Day - NYC
Quite the day. Left at 5AM, got home at 1AM. Busy, busy. Nola joined me for the day, and we had a great time! We arrived in downtown NYC around 10:30a and had a nice (hard) time trying to find parking. City cops were quite rude to Nola, but we ended up eating lunch in the car, and eating dinner at this cute coffee shop while we waited for Kierstyn. Visited the WTC site and had a great time exploring that part of town. Loved catching up with K, and Nola loved the opportunity to buy kunafa and shoes in Brooklyn. We got back on the road by 7pm and back to Rochester in no time. I was exhausted, but a little bit of effort and we had a great time.
Good things coming, I'm sure.
Shooting for one hundred
We spend far... far... too much time together. This, I've come to realize.
"He's probably sitting down somewhere." Oct 9 (in response to "Where's Luke?")
"Did... you just kiss your cat? That's disgusting." Oct 9
"Where's your husband?" Oct 9 (to my unmarried aunt)
"What? Don't you have gay people in Rochester?" Oct 10
"Come on, dude! Come to the car wash with me..." Oct 10
"Do you have any chocolate?" & "Can you run to Wegmans and get me chocolate?" Oct 11
"I think you should take it. That way I won't have to find a new place to live." Oct 11
"So... when are we going to have a party?" Oct 11
"I'm leaning toward going home in December." Oct 13 (not funny, just a relief!)
Good Things Happening
Had an amazing day in New York City. I snapped this photo on the 28th floor at the World Trade Center complex. That's Ground Zero next door! Amazing.
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Round of Applause
My volleyball earned patch this week is "went a whole game without my cellphone" patch! Sweet
Weekend away from whatever I have
I've been banking my vacation days to take an actual vacation sometime soon. The plan was to drive to California with R in December when he returns to California. Then I'd meet up with Cindy in L.A. for a week and then come home. It was to be a two week adventure. I ever got the time off approved. But R is planning to "stay longer" now, which I have no idea what that even means. So he may be here for a couple extra months, or not. Either way, December was an ideal time to go, so if I have to delay it a couple months, it probably won't happen.
Our weekend adventures continue, as you can probably tell from the posts on this blog. Adirondacks, Letchworth, biking, fooding, wine tasting, and so much more. He has grandiose plans for the next few months, including a trip to D.C. and a trip to Boston and Vancouver! And he wants me to go along. Not so sure!
I went to a really great brunch last weekend at Amy's house for her birthday. I arrived a little late, mostly because I went for an hour run and ran out of time.. plus I have fresh bread baking and just had to wait for it to finish. But the gathering was subdued, I had fun, the food was wonderful, and I got to have a great discussion for over an hour before running off for another couple errands. There was supposed to be a huge "thank you" picnic for the Foodlink organization I volunteer at, but I couldn't find it! I went to the address (the soccer stadium), but nobody was there. So either I was punked, or just completely braindead on where I was supposed to be.
I'm trying very hard to stay extremely active every day. This is my last ditch attempt to head-off any weight gain and health issues as I struggle to re-gain control over my efforts. I've been riding my bike more on long bikerides, running more often and for longer, riding to work every day, and working around the house outside in preparation for fall. It's VERY therapeutic, relaxing, invigorating, and so much more. It feels good to stay active, and so disappointing when results are shortcoming.
Last week was the first volleyball game I participated in on our team. It was their 2nd game, and tonight is our third game. We're not half bad! And Michael is totally neck-deep gung-ho about the whole thing. And I love it! He made us all customized t-shirts with nicknames, each a color of the rainbow, and he's giving us each patches and awards after each game. Practices are on Wednesday, even though it seems so hard to get everyone together. My patch last week was a "tweet" patch, which was hilarious. I'm looking forward to whatever I get tonight!
Earlier this week, R asked me what I had planned for this weekend. Since I had told my aunt and grandma that I would come down and help them the best I could, my plans included housework, yardwork, chatting, talking, shopping and just relaxing with my family. "Sounds good, when do we go?" So he joined me. I went for an hour run while he went off on a bike ride, and we hit the road by 9:30a to meet up with my sister for breakfast. On our way, our conversations of course revolved around EVERYTHING, one of which was speeding tickets and such. I realized, as I was speeding, that my inspection was out of date.. which set me off on a bit of a panic. But all turned out well, as I dropped my car off at a shop while we ate a delicious breakfast with Molly, before hitting up the Mennonite Sauder's grocery store, helping my aunt and grandma with their work for several hours, and meeting up again with my sister for a delicious dinner.
The kind of yardwork we did was unsatisfactory to him, as it didn't include the proper tools and didn't produce a high enough sweat ratio. We worked for two hours! I have so many scratches and was so worn out by the end of it... that I definitely felt it was a great day. Plus I did a dozen things inside for them, happily. But dinner with Molly was actually us crashing her bar and visiting with her and Tammy for an hour. We ordered some delicious chicken wings, drank several great beers (R taste tested several, turning them down much to Molly's dismay), and had to get on our way back to Rochester to meet up with Jake for the movie Inception. After dropping Jake off, we even picked up Thai Food takeout for a late night dinner.
Busy busy busy Saturday! R complains that I pack too much into my days and I never really enjoy anything solidly. I disagree. I think the amount of stuff I do and the speed at which I do them is solidly in the enjoyable range.
Oh well. Onward.
Saturday, October 09, 2010
Friday, October 08, 2010
Walking a thin line daily
"Not all of us have cushy jobs where we can come home and drink wine every night." Oct 5
"Do you have an answer for everything?" Oct 5
(email) "i have a need to prepare some chared dead animals" Oct 6
"I'm not like you. I don't try to fit as much as possible into as short a time as I can." Oct 6
"You realize you sound just like him, right?" Oct 6
"It's okay, you can say it: you're bored with me." Oct 7
"Here, taste this." Oct 7
"What's the lease say about damage to your garage by my car? Is that in there?" Oct 8
"I got lost and almost got mugged on my way home tonight." Oct 8
"I felt I had a kinship with your friends Jake and Rachael." Oct 8
"Does she have a grill? You see where I'm going with this, right?" Oct 9
Thursday, October 07, 2010
Tuesday, October 05, 2010
Wine: David Arthur Vineyards
Had a great time tasting a bunch of wines from a place called "David Arthur Vineyards." The owner, David, gave a really great presentation over 90 minutes. He explained his process and the passion he has for winemaking... even going so far as to say he's been making alcohol since the 9th grade. He explained the wine is a tad on the expensive side, he pays for high quality corks, and even has a wine building with heated floors to help the process of bacterial growth in February. Amazing.
2008 Sauvignon Blanc $25
Tasted cheap. Not even remotely good in my opinion. I don't like white wines that taste like pain. 1/2 *
2008 Chardonnay $42
This one had a lot of 'malolactic' appeal... smooth, silky.. a decent white wine, if you like the taste of apples and a slight aftertaste of nuts/vanilla. Minor acids. **
2007 "Meritaggio" $55
Really slight sense of tannins, soft, some acids, easy drinking wine, aka "our table wine" ... not a whole lot of bang for the buck. I liked it enough to get a 2nd tasting, but would only buy this to have with ribs or spicy food. *** 1/2
2007 Cabernet Sauvignon $95
We had this wine airing out for about 45 minutes in the glasses. It was smooth, great tannins, a sense of cherry and blackberry, and a deep cocoa aftertaste. I *loved* it.. until I had the final one. ****
2007 "Elevation 1147" Cabernet Sauvignon $135
Of course I love the most expensive wine. I had a great conversation with the lady next to me, as I was quite toasted by this point. This wine was dark, vivid, bold, full of tannins, tasted of dark red fruits and a hint of dark chocolate. Epitomy of style. *****
WINE KEY
All smiles tonight
Having a really perfect evening eating great cheese and drinking fine wines at Century. This time alone! This winemaker, David Arthur, won Winemaker of the Year! He's great. Lovin his wine.
Monday, October 04, 2010
Volleyball Awards
I was invited to join my friend Michael's volleyball team quite a few weeks ago. Michael is gungho about this, and we've been having a great time. We even won our first two sets of games! Michael made us all individual t-shirts, and each week's he's giving us earned patches. AND awards! Ha.
This Week's Awards:
Luke- Consistent Serve AwardGood times.
Tate- The Ref Hates Me Award
Michael- Not Making Any Friends Award
Jude- Block That Shot! Award
Jake- Fuck! Award
Jen- Put Me in Coach Award
Marni- Do They Take It This Seriously? Award
Rachael- Do They Serve Food? Award
Shared awards:
Jen and Tate- My Shirt Embarasses Me Award
Michael and Jake- Who's Ball Is it Anyway? Award
Jude and Luke- Sobriety Award
Team- Thank Bokonon They Were Late Award
Marni and Rachael- Are we done yet? Award
Exhausting every option
(phone) "Hey Holmes, where's the baking powder?" Sept 30
"If you feel so strongly about it, then you put the food away." Oct 1
"You disappoint me." Oct 1
"What do you mean by that? 'Knowing me now?' We obviously will never see eye to eye." Oct 2
"OK Sheldon." Oct 2 (in reference to Big Bang theory, to me)
"I'm getting bored." Oct 2 (3 hours into a 6 hour hike)
"Can we not go west? I don't want to get murdered." Oct 3
"Is hummus part of your required diet? And why did you buy frozen vegies?" Oct 4
"Are you sure your cat can eat mustard?" Oct 4
"You can't leave me alone... what will I do?" Oct 5 (when I was going to bed @ midnight)
Sunday, October 03, 2010
Saturday, October 02, 2010
Letchworth State Park
AMAZING day hiking at Letchworth! This is becoming quite the eventful friendship him and I have. He wasn't too impressed by Letchworth, but I LOVE IT. Gorgeous this time of year! I always love to visit during the Fall color changes. :) We stayed about 4 hours total, and had a ton of fun. Wooo! Hiking!
Day at Letchworth
R and I are enjoying a day at the park hiking and talking. Always talking. Always with the talking/debating! :)
P.S. In the distant part of the river, you can see kayakers!
P.S. In the distant part of the river, you can see kayakers!
Friday, October 01, 2010
Five Courses of Delight
My mother had inquired with R awhile back to see if he'd be willing to make a meal for her sometime. Of course he said yes, he's a very giving guy. What started as a simple dinner turned into a giant 3 days projects, inclusive of meal planning, several trips to Wegmans, a little drama, an argument, and finally, a delicious meal.
He made this fantastic chicken curry main dish, pumpkin side, rice, naan, spicey roasted tomatoes, lentils and even this great banana bread. I opened 3 bottles of wine with some crackers and cheese, and we started the evening with a good discussion.
Marni even stopped by to join us, and my sisters, R, Marni and I enjoyed a good evening together. The food was fantastic and I had waaaaay too much. But I let him know (after I apologized for our argument) how much I appreciated everything he did for my family.
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